White Sox rookie Dylan Cease has only made seven starts to begin his MLB career, but three have already come in double headers. The previous two against the Tigers resulted in wins for the righty and he could have had a chance at another victory on Tuesday if it wasn’t for Welington Castillo.
Cease pitched into the seventh inning and left after walking the leadoff hitter, who eventually scored. Cease was charged with four runs, but only two were earned because Castillo had two passed balls that allowed a runner to score each time.
Both came with two outs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Here’s the first passed ball in the sixth that was also the go-ahead run for the Astros.
The video review certainly didn’t help out the White Sox, as it looked like Cease got the tag in before the runner touched home plate. That’s one of those plays where whatever the original call was most likely not going to be changed. But it could have been avoided if Castillo just caught the ball.
Then in the seventh inning, Castillo flat out missed a pitch with the bases loaded.
Oh and in the second inning, Castillo was thrown out at home after a two-out hit.
But you have to take any positive that you can as a White Sox fan and there was plenty to like from Cease on Tuesday.
After allowing a leadoff homer in the third inning, he retired 11 in a row before getting into some trouble with two outs in the sixth that led to the first error by Castillo.
Cease also worked out of a first-inning jam, getting Carlos Correa to pop out to second with runners at second and third and no outs, and then getting a double play after an intentional walk that loaded the bases.
A tough loss to go on Cease’s record. And in the age of the no-decision, Cease has actually factored into every one to begin his MLB career at 2-5, following the 6-2 loss.
